Fall 2010

Change of Major

Fall 2010

THE Working Group:

Mary Pedersen, CAFESDebra Valencia-Laver, CLAPenny Bennett, CLADan Walsh, CENGFred DePiero, CENGStacey Breitenbach, CENGDane Jones, CSMDick Zweifel, CAEDEllen Notermann, CAEDAmy Swanson, OCOBMelinda Rojo, ITSBob Smidt, Academic SenateRachel Fernflores, Academic SenateJim Maraviglia, Marketing and Enrollment DevelopmentCem Sunata, Registrar

Fall 2010

Agenda

•Guiding Principles

•Student Success

•Concerns

•Change of Major Policy

•Requesting a Change of Major

•Individualized Change of Major AgreementFall 2010

Guiding Principles

•Student’s path to graduation should be transparent, flexible and as simple as possible

•Students should be treated equitably through the consistent application of policy

•Students should have university-wide support in reaching success regardless of their affiliation(s)

•Students deserve communication in a timely mannerFall 2010

Guiding Principles

•Upon admission to Cal Poly, students should have a clear understanding of the expectations being placed upon them

•Policies and procedures should support the student’s learning experience

•Continuous review of our policies and practices should be performed regularly

•Policies and practices should promote quality programs and efficient use of resources

Fall 2010

Student Success

•Cal Poly requires students to declare their majors at their time of application

•Over 30% of our students change majors (successfully)

•Remove the “stigma” – encourage communication

•Provides an “advising” opportunity

Fall 2010

Change of Major - Concerns

•Academic Senate Resolution AS-582-02/IC (adopted in March 2002 but was never fully implemented)

• Must make progress in current program while attempting to change into their desired major

• Some change of major processes are unwieldy

• Some students could not gain acceptance into their desired major within a reasonable time periodFall 2010

Change of Major - Concerns

•Academic Senate Resulution AS-706-10 (adopted in March 2010)

• Change of Major processes/rules are set by each department and are inconsistent and in some cases are unclear or onerous

Fall 2010

Change of Major - Concerns

•Cal Poly requires students to declare their major at time of application

•“Back Door” admissions

•Impacts time to degree

•Changing majors is not always the “right” thing to do

•“Synthetic” MajorsFall 2010

Change of Major – Minimum Time

•Students must complete at least one quarter at Cal Poly

Fall 2010

Change of Major – Basic Criteria

•Departments/Advisors should give careful consideration to the following when determining target major options

• Majors for which the student was eligible at time of admission

• College Academic Record

• Remaining coursework and ability to complete degree requirements remaining within the unit max

Fall 2010

Change of Major – “One Chance”

•Students who enter into an individualized change of major agreement (ICMA) and do not meet the requirements of the agreement will not be eligible to request that major again later in their career at Cal Poly

Fall 2010

Change of Major – Timeframe

•The ICMA must be feasible to complete AND be able to be completed in no more than two quarters

Fall 2010

Change of Major – Completion or ICMA

•The change of major WILL BE approved and processed once the student has successfully met all of the ICMA requirements

•Note: An ICMA will be void if a student is academically disqualified prior to the completion of the ICMA

Fall 2010

Requesting a Change of Major

•Student reviews the curriculum requirements of the target major

•Student meets with an advisor to review options

•Student meets with the department head/chair (or designee) to discuss the possibility of changing majors

•If changing majors is appropriate the student and department enter into an ICMA

Fall 2010

Individualized Change of Major Agreement

•Maximum of two quarters

•Maximum of three specified courses or 12 units determined by the target major

•Additional courses and/or units to allow the students to continue to make progress to degree (e.g., electives, GE courses) in both current and target majors.

•GPA requirementsFall 2010

Questions…

Fall 2010